Ainu people

The Ainu or the Aynu (Ainu アィヌ Aynu; Japanese: アイヌ Ainu; Russian: Айны Ajny), and in historical Japanese texts Ezo/Emishi/Ebisu (蝦夷) or Ainu (アイヌ) are an indigenous people of Japan (Hokkaido, and formerly northeastern Honshu) and Russia (Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands).

History

Pre-modern

Recent research suggests that Ainu culture originated in a merger of the Okhotsk and Satsumon cultures. In 1264, Ainu invaded the land of Nivkh people controlled by the Yuan Dynasty of China, resulting in battles between Ainu and the Chinese. Active contact between the Wajin (the ethnically Japanese) and the Ainu of Ezochi (now known as Hokkaido) began in the 13th century. The Ainu formed a society of hunter-gatherers, living mainly by hunting and fishing, and the people followed a religion based on phenomena of nature.

During the Muromachi period (1336–1573), the disputes between Japanese and Ainu eventually developed into a war. Takeda Nobuhiro killed the Ainu leader, Koshamain. Many Ainu were subject to Japanese rule which led to violent Ainu revolt such as the Koshamain's Revolt (ja:コシャマインの戦い) in 1456 against Japanese influence and control on an island.

Äynu language

Äynu (also Aini, Ejnu,Abdal) is a Turkic cryptolect spoken in western China known in various spelling as Aini, Aynu, Ainu, Eyni or by the Uyghur Abdal (ئابدال), in Russian sources Эйну́, Айну, Абдал, by the Chinese as Ainu. Some linguists call it a mixed language, having a mostly Turkic grammar, essentially Yugur (close to Uyghur), but a mainly Iranian vocabulary. Other linguists argue that it does not meet the technical requirements of a mixed language. It is spoken by the Äynu, a nomadic people. The Äynu people call their language Äynú (ئەينۇ) [ɛjˈnu].

Geographic distribution

Äynu is spoken in Western China in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin.

Use as a secret language

The only speakers of Äynu are adult men. Uyghur is spoken with outsiders and with women, who do not speak Äynu. Uyghur is spoken at home when it is not necessary to disguise one's speech.

Sounds

Consonants

Vowels

Numerals

Äynu numerals are borrowed from Persian: